The Wigan Deal

Donna Hall’s visit

In March 2024 the Shetland Partnership Management and Leadership team hosted Donna Hall, Chief Executive of Wigan Council.  

Faced with austerity in 2010, Wigan Council transformed its relationship with local residents and redesigned its service. £160m of savings have been made by the council, whilst also achieving significant improvements for the community.

The visit gave 120 public sector leaders across Shetland time to learn, be inspired and consider how to make transformation a reality. Leaders across Shetland Islands Council, NHS Shetland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service were well represented, each of whom face significant financial challenges over the next years.

The Wigan Deal

Local leaders explored ‘The Wigan Deal’, a social contract brokered between the council and the community. As well as achieving council savings, the deal has led to a number of improvements across the council and community, for example:

• 52% reduction in first time entrants to the Youth Justice System
• 5% reduction in looked after children
• 2.2% increase in the economy
• 8% increase in recycling
• 7 year increase in healthy life expectancy.

Work on the deal is ongoing until 2030.

Learning from the visit

Local leaders have responded that they now:

• better understand what is required for change
• feel more equipped to undertake change
• have a common understanding enabling them to effectively discuss change
• are using their learning to critically appraise their work
• embed learning into multi-agency improvement projects

A further appraisal will be completed later this year to assess the impact of Donna’s visit and to help define next steps.

For more information on ‘The Wigan Deal’:

https://www.wigan.gov.uk/Council/The-Deal/The-Deal.aspx

The visit contributed to all priority areas in the Shetland Partnership Plan, demonstrating significant improvement in all areas; however, the Wigan Deal was and is rooted in the Place.